Tuesday, July 27, 2010

My little story - by Alejandro

One of the best aspects of having a collaboration blog is having so many active comments and viewers participate, globally and locally. Here in San Francisco Ade, Melyssa and I talk about it from time to time and have conversations as if we all know you, or you all have ridden with us because our interactions are what makes us keep going and everytime we receive a story in the mail -basically the main point of our blog- we can't wait to share it with you all and show off all those tales, cities and photos that connect us as a beautiful bicycle community.

Thanks for reading and here is Alejandro's story, based out of Mexico City.Mil gracias AleEnjoy!!

Hi this is me Alex, don't let the pic fool you as I'm a laid back cool guy. I've been full hardocore bike commuting for over a year now, to the point that I get dizzy if I have to hop in a car or a bus for an extended period of time, and as I enjoy having fun in everything I do nothing it's more fun than biking, reagardless to say I don't know how to drive or have an interest in doing it.

Then again don't let the pic fool you as it doesn't shows really who am I and gives the impression I do hate biking or just treat my beloved bicycle (named Roberta) as an object but I can prove you wrong with this second photo.

As I wrote this I was wondering how riding a bike change my life, and I can put an endless list of things, and I think THE most importan way it has change my life, I have made some really good friends and it's constantly making me a more patient, yoga, zen kinda guy, to the extent I can now summon AND talk to animals.

But enough about me I want to introduce you to a really nice associantion I sometimes roll with, they are call Bicitekas (refering to bicicleta and the aztecs) It's an association with over 10 years here in the city with one sole purpose, making it a friendly city through the bike. We get together on wednesdays at night to prove bike can be done all over Mexico city and can be done at night, but their activities don't stop there.

In some special (and not so fun) ocassions we do gather to remember fallen fellow cyclist, brave persons (kids, young and old fellas, girls, people that work on their bikes) that were hit by a car and put a memento (the bicycle they rode with) that has been called all over the world ghost bikes.

The activities of Bicitekas don't stop there, they have manage recently to change the transit law in mexico to put priority on the weakest persons using the streets (pedestrian in first places, cyclist second). Also they created a comunity program named "paseo a ciegas" that put people with some visual disability or full blindness in the back part of a tandem bike drived buy a person who can see, and last but not least they are building an open workshop downtown so people can go learn how to repair or modify their bicycle and also it's attempted to be a resident house for people from all over the world that are doing something on sustainable transportation and are staying in the city.

So I have make some really cool friends in bicitekas, and it just came to me the reason why I love my brompton bike it's that the former president of the association just happen to sell them and he's a really cool brompton commuter/traveler.

So well that's bicitekas an association really doing something for my city, and accepting anyone regardless what bike you are using, how you dress or even if you wear a helmet or not. If anyone readin this happens to be in Mexico city you are more than welcome to join us riding your bike!

Very cool story. In recent years this country has become so isolationist, provincial, xenophobic, and frightened really, that it's absolutely necesary to hear these wonderful stories from the rest of the civilized world. Thanks!

Fitcetera: Yes I'm a squirrel whisperer and no less, it takes like seven years in zoo talking school, I now have a PHD

Adrienne: Sure Bicitekas it's really really nice, it's just about bike loving no matter who you are. And squirrels sometimes aren't that good company, they try to steal my nuts and as I'm a nutcase well, I'm a living target for them.

Calitexican: Will try to, but I'm not a camera person(thought I wish to carry one for some wonderful scenes I witness)